babies, babies, babies.

i was so busy shooting weddings the month of july that i nearly overlooked some VIPs on the bloggy:) these little girls and one boy have totally stolen my heart. mostly because their mamas are so dear to me! meet riley, charlotte, ella, noah, laney, audrey & kayla.

these two sisters are absolutely precious. how cute are their hair-flair pieces!? even more amazing that they actually left them in ;)

baby riley was not so sure at first of my camera being all up in her face....just moments after naptime.

but she got over it quickly and played along:) those eyes!

charlotte is more than used to me now so she just took right to grinning and hamming it up.

charlotte, you are beautiful already. i can't wait to watch your life unfold.

and oh, my. their mama liz is a friend of mine from waaaay back. to watch her parent is truly awesome. she's loving, firm, and teaching constantly. i love watching her interact with her girls and learn so much from her already (even pre-babies myself!).

sweet sisterly love!

later in the week i got to meet up with my bff from college, april, and her babies. the first time i held ella three years ago she was just a few days old, and i loved her instantly like i'd birthed her myself. she was my first friend-baby to love and the first to call me aunt jess. and yes, her eyes have always been that big & blue. have you seen her mama!?

hi sweet girl. miss your face!

ella got a baby brother this winter and he is something else. with a mind of his own to boot:) noah defines boyhood already and i love every bit of him!

april is so darling with her babies. she approaches parenting them with such humor and makes me laugh til my stomach hurts just talking to them. a, i can just hear you saying, "no ma'am" to ella ;) thank you for the inspiration to love my own babies someday with such abandon.

see where they get those baby blues?

and of course my shutter clicked a thousand times for these two! my own family. audrey & laney hold a grip on my heart tighter than any human being i think i've ever known. from the moment i heard elena had arrived (on my anniversary no less - thank you peanut!) i loved her like she was my own. when her sister audrey came along a couple years later that feeling was no different....and she certainly washed our family in joy, coming into the world just hours after my grandpa passed. to spend a week in columbia hanging out with my peanuts was so great! and p.s. see the cute expression on laney's face? this was seconds before she "gently" laid audrey back on the carpet and said, "now can you take her?" ;)

nothing like baby smiles for the first time!! i love you little sister!

this was the best part of my visit:

of course we had to beat the missouri heat with pool time and splashing. i love you peanut...even though everytime i call you that you tell me, "jessie my name isn't peanut" ;)

snuggles with aunt jess...

and torture with uncle charlie :)

my beautiful sister liz with her babies...i love a mama with her kiddos piled on her lap. audrey doesn't look so sure about the whole photo shoot thing! liz, you are such a good mama to those girls - the best i've seen yet! you are so patient with them but you're the mama and they know that. i love to watch you and learn from you.

lots of pets to visit with at grandma's house.

and some sparklers to boot!

and rounding out july, another of my college bff's and her family swung through fort collins for a night. so happy to see genese and love on her darling girl kayla who took right to me (may or may not have anything to do with pixie stix in my purse...). we played ball in the yard:

went for a flower-picking walk in the park...

and burned some energy:) we also had a great hike in the mountains before they left...short visit but sooo good to catch up with genese & brian and love on kayla. see another beautiful shot of miss k {HERE}.

love you kiddos!! aunt jess misses you, xoxo

(liz, april & genese: your disks are in the mail!)